Appéré will need to be managed after returning from hip injury

Louis Appéré says he is ‘not completely free’ of the hip injury that saw him miss five games last month.

The 24-year-old striker was a regular in the side up until the international break but he did not feature against Bolton and was then absent from the squad for the following four games before returning in the FA Cup defeat to Barrow.

"For me, it feels good to be back,” he said. “The circumstances obviously aren't what I wanted with the result but it's nice to be back on the pitch after a few weeks out and I'm ready to help the team.

"The problem has been my hip. I've had a bit of tendonitis and I was playing through it previously and I did feel OK but then we had a lot of games in a short period, three in a week, and after that it was too sore in training.

"I went and got a scan and they found the issue so since then I've had to rest up and take it easy. I'm not completely free of it but I just need to manage it, be careful and keep on top of it in training and stuff, and I've also got my exercises to do to help it.”

Appéré and Jack Sowerby are both back from injury and should be in the squad to face Burton this weekend, and Kieron Bowie is available again after suspension, but several players remain sidelined.

"I wasn’t the only one out,” Appéré added. “There's a good few of us who have been injured and we're all frustrated watching from the sidelines because we want to get out there and help the team.

"I'm not sure why we keep getting so many injuries, I think we've been a bit unfortunate, but it can happen when there's a lot of games because that doesn't help.

"The gaffer has been short on numbers and it's been difficult but me and Sowers are back now and hopefully there are a few more to return in the next few weeks.”